“H-Huh?” He weakly tried to pull from her hand, though unsuccessfully as his body still felt too numb. “W-Wait, Nanami, n-no–”
He sighed as she dragged him off towards the hotel, knowing there was no way to convince this girl otherwise once she set her mind to something. He decided that he’d at least let her do what she wanted if it got her out of the rain as well. Just because he felt like this didn’t mean he had to drag her down with him…
‘Her fingers are so… warm,’ he mentally noted as his heart fluttered. It hurt that it fluttered, hurt to think about how he could feel like this towards anybody that he’d so long lied to, worn that stupid mask for… If he cared so much, why did he allow himself to trick them?
He cringed just a little at the neon lights illuminating the dark atmosphere, and he involuntarily shivered as they stepped inside. The cold air conditioning gave him goose bumps, making the warmth of Haruka’s hand feel at least ten times warmer. The first he’d felt since his soul had gone numb, and of course it was freezing from the rain and risking a cold or hypothermia.
‘Well,’ he thought in his continued silence, ‘guess I at least deserve that…’
“Hush,” Haruka told him gently, lacing her fingers through his and squeezing to reassure him she was there. “Everything’s going to be fine. Just come with me.” She didn’t know if she was lying or not, but she was determined for it to become the truth. He was her first friend, the bright spot in an otherwise dreary day, and seeing him like this was breaking her heart. She’d get the truth out of him one way or another as to what had happened with Eiichi, but first... She watched with concern as he shivered while she checked in at the front desk one-handed, refusing to let him go for fear he’d run off without her.
“It’s alright. Let’s dry you off,” she said, keeping her voice soothing and calm, feeling that she needed to fill the silence somehow. As she opened the door to their rented room and shut it behind them, she gently deposited Otoya on the bed, removing her hand with a promised, “I’ll be right back, I’m just getting towels.”
As quickly as she could, she grabbed all the towels she found in the adjoining bathroom, as well as a fluffy robe, and raced back to his side, already unfolding one and extending it toward his hair. “I’m going to dry your hair, is that okay? Unless you want to do it?” She didn’t really think he’d take the initiative in his current state, but it was only polite to ask, Haruka supposed. And getting him to engage with her at all would be good.